The field of the present invention relates to compositions and methods for treating psychiatric conditions associated with KCNQ potassium channels and the symptoms thereof. In particular, the field of the invention relates to compositions and methods for treating schizophrenia, drug addiction, and the symptoms thereof.
Schizophrenia and addiction are complex brain disorders with unknown etiology. Despite decades of intensive research, the neurological underpinnings of these devastating human pathologies remain unknown. Recent advances have suggested that pathological plasticity in dopamine and glutamate signaling in the brain regions including, but limited to, prefrontal cortex, caudate putamen, nucleus accumbens, and ventral tegmental area may be involved. Therefore, treatments capable of modulating dopaminergic and glutamatergic neurotransmission and signaling in the brain may be beneficial in ameliorating the cellular and molecular pathologies and the behavioral symptoms in these psychiatric disorders.
Schizophrenia and addiction are complex brain disorders and display a variety of behavioral symptoms. Individual treatments may be able to address only a subset of the symptoms associated with these behavioral phenotypes. For example, some available medications for schizophrenia may treat the positive symptoms of the disease in absence of any significant effects on the negative or cognitive symptoms. Therefore, there is a need to discover and develop effective medications for these additional symptoms. In addition, currently prescribed medications for the treatment of these disorders have significant shortcomings such as inadequate efficacy and/or significant side effects such as weight gain, sexual dysfunction, motor deficits, cardiovascular irregularities, increased risk for diabetes and sudden death.
In regard to substance abuse and addiction, it was estimated that approximately 23.6 million Americans aged 12 were in need of treatment in 2006. The annual cost of drug abuse to society in the United States is more than $181 billion which when combined with healthcare, criminal justice, and lost productivity may exceed $500 billion. While individuals addicted to opiates such as opium and heroin may benefit from pharmacological treatments such as methadone and buprenorphine, there is no medication for the treatment of those addicted to psychostimulants such as cocaine and methamphetamine. The lack of an effective treatment for psychostimulant addiction highlights the need to discover and develop new, novel, and effective medications for treating psychostimulant addiction and the symptoms thereof.
As disclosed herein, KCNQ (Kv7) potassium channel activity may be targeted to treat psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, drug addiction, and the symptoms thereof. Known drugs that modulate KCNQ (Kv7) potassium channel activity may be utilized in treatment methods, and further, new drugs that modulate KCNQ (Kv7) potassium channel activity may be identified and developed.